Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant. A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.
The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?
These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years — but unless we meet the truant officer （学监）, we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes （构成） “overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law — as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.
. By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that .
| A．work time is equal to rest time |
| B．many people have a day off on Monday |
| C．it is hard for people to decide when to rest |
| D．the line between work time and rest time is unclear |
The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people ________ .
| A．fail to make full use of their time | B．enjoy working overtime for extra pay |
| C．are unaware of the law of time | D．welcome flexible working hours |
According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.
| A．need to acquire knowledge | B．have to obey their parents |
C．need to find companions | D．have to observe the law |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph probably refers to ___
_____ .
| A．influence |
| B．overtime |
| C．a law of time |
| D．being late to work |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Our life is governed by the law of time. | |
| B．How to organize time is not worth debating. |
C．New ways of using time change our society. |
| D．Our time schedule is decided by social customs. |
To the Editor,
I have been reading your newspaper, the Hometown Gazette, for the past two years, ever since I moved to Smithville. We moved here from New York City, so I am accustomed(习惯的) to reading excellent newspapers such as The New York Times . In fact, we still have the Times delivered on Sundays. The entire family enjoys reading the recipes（食谱） in the magazine, as well as the Styles section.
The Times is great, but the Gazette is another story. I’ve never read an article that doesn’t contain at least three or four spelling or grammatical errors. For instance, in last week’s issue you misspelled the word “secretary”, used a singular verb with a plural noun, and used “it’s” as a possessive (所有格). And that was just in the lead story! In case you never went to elementary school, “it’s” means “it is ”.It’s also a possessive adjective!
It’s a pity that this tiny little hick(乡下) town has only one newspaper, because I’d like to have an alternative(替换物) to the rag you publish. I find it hard to believe your news stories. If you can’t spell correctly. How can you get your facts right?
I’ve been meaning to get this off my chest for some time. Please cancel my subscription(订阅). And buy yourself a dictionary.
Sincerely,
Jane Z, Jones Which phrase from the passage shows the writer’s prejudice(偏见)?
| A．get this off my chest |
| B．three or four spelling or grammatical errors |
| C．tiny little hick town |
| D．reading the recipes in the magazine |
The author’s tone in this passage can best be described as
| A．happy | B．angry | C．sympathetic(同情的) | D．objective |
Which statement of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．The writer once lived in New York City, so he was used to reading the Times. |
| B．The entire family enjoys reading the Styles section in the mafazine. |
| C．The writer has long been planning to express his dissatisfaction with the local newspaper |
| D．It is obvious that the editors of the newspaper are not very careful about their work. |
Do you know about a series of books that say they are “for dummies”? These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine language including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.
“Dummy” is a word for a stupid person. The dummies books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as World History for Dummies, Rabbits for Dummies, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The first such book, Dos for Dummies, was published in 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold.
The dummies. Com website explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.
These are more than one thousand different dummies books. A report in New York Times say that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance.
The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need-like information about diseases books to help them. And there are even more dummies books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Books for Dummies | B．The Easiest, the Best |
| C．Self-Help Books | D．New Ideas behind the books |
According to the dummies.com website, people can with the help of dummies books.
| A．simple some personal things | B．do anything they want |
| C．become expert in any field | D．learn any foreign language |
The dummies books have been popular because
| A．they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand |
| B．they provide abundant information on the concerning subject |
| C．people can learn to do anything with just one copy |
| D．people can save lots of money through self-teaching |
According to New York Times, we know that books on sell best.
| A．technology and personal finance | B．opera and car repairing |
| C．diseases and education | D．cooking and world history |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The first dummies book was on Chinese cooking. |
| B．The dummies books will continue to be popular |
| C．Fifty million different dummies books have been published. |
| D．The simple language was intended for child readers. |
Robert Spring, a 19tth century forger(伪造者)，was so good at his profession that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he became rich by selling his small but real collection of early U.S. autographs（手稿）. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George. Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection(察觉), he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale.
Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can’t deal with a respectable buyer but people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemical.
In Spring’s time right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the Southern states, so Spring invented a respectable maiden lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts(手稿). Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.Why did Spring sell his false autographs in England and Canada?
| A．There is a greater demand there than in America. |
| B．There was less chance of being detected there. |
| C．Britain was Spring’s birthplace. |
| D．The price were higher in England and Canada. |
After the Civil War, there was a great demand in Britain for
| A．Southern money |
| B．Signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin |
| C．Southern manuscripts and letters |
| D．Civil War battle plans |
According to the passage, forgeries are usually sold to
| A．sharp-eyed experts | B．persons who aren’t experts |
| C．book dealers | D．owners of old books |
Who was Miss Fanny Jackson?
| A．The only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson |
| B．A little –known girl who sold her father’s to Robert Spring |
| C．Robert Spring’s daughter |
| D．An imaginary person created by Spring. |
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a.m. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark exvept for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated. ”
“Oh, you’re such a good man.” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “ Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“ Oh, I’m in no hurry.” She said, “I’m on my way to a hospice (临终医院)。 I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器)
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At down, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” She asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment joy.”The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to .
| A．Show she was familiar with the city |
| B．reach the destination on time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．see some places for the last time. |
The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he
| A．wanted to do her a favor |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment in advance |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passenhers |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Giving is always a pleasure |
| B．People should respect each other |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others’ concern. |
3D comes home
Have you had this experience? You are watching a movie. A man is shooting on the screen. The picture is so real that you think he is shooting at you. Or a car is speeding on the screen and at one point you are afraid it will hit you.
Three-dimensional (3D)films use special technology to make pictures seem more real and exciting than two-dimensional ones. Two popular movies in the cinema this year, UP and Ice Age; Dawn of the Dinosaurs both use 3D technology.
So far we can only see 3D films in the cinema with a special screen and projector. But soon, we will be able to watch them in our living rooms. Last month, the Japanese company Sony told reporters that it plans to bring 3D televisions to homes in 2010. The company is also hoping to make other products with 3D, like laptops and PS3.
“ The 3D train is on the track, and we are ready to drive it home,” said Sony President Sir Howard Stringer.
How 3D technology works
Three dimensional movies and TV programs are fun to watch, but do you know how they are made? It is much easier to understand if we do an experiment.
Hold one of your fingers up at arms length and close one eye. Then try closing the other eye. As you switch between open eyes you should see your finger “jumping” left and right against the background.
This happens because our two eyes are about 4 cm away from each other. The separation causes each eye to see the world from a different angle. The brain puts these two views together. What you see becomes three-dimensional.
Three dimensional movies are made using two video cameras at the same time, which creates two different images. When the movie plays in a cinema, two projectors put the two images on the screen. With a pair of 3D glasses, the two images are separated and each image only enters one eye. Your brain puts the two pictures back together, and the pictures on the screen become three-dimensional.
72. What does the sentence “The 3D train is on the track, and we are ready to drive it home” mean? .
A. They’ve got a train to take 3D films back home
B. They are ready to bring 3D technology to homes
C. They have no more work to do on 3D technology
D. They are not sure about the future of 3D films
73. According to the text, 3D films.
A. use advanced technology to make special sound effects.
B. are less real than ordinary films, but more exciting.
C. can only be seen in the cinema at the moment.
D. will take the place of 2D films in the near future.
74. From the text, we know that 3D technology .
A. works in a similar way to how our eyes see things.
B. is too expensive to be used in ordinary homes.
C. uses special video cameras and light effects
D. can be easy to experiment with
75. The passage is mainly about .
A. how 3D films will develop in the future.
B. what makes 3D films so enjoyable
C. how 3D technology works and its future
D. what 3D technology needs and its future